Published: March 2, 2025
Inside a hotel established by a venture in Beijing at Star of Africa, Lin Haifeng and Tang Haofei sat across from each other, both wearing awkward expressions.
Neither of them spoke. Tang Haofei was half-lying on the sofa, gazing at the ceiling, while Lin Haifeng was seated on a chair, sipping tea. It appeared to be a harmonious scene, but the strange atmosphere between them caused Fran at the door to sneeze loudly.
"Um... I'll head out first. You two can chat..."
Fran could no longer bear the tension in the room and decisively chose to escape, leaving only Lin Haifeng and Tang Haofei staring at each other.
After a long pause, it was Lin Haifeng who broke the silence first.
"So, you are Tang Yi?"
Tang Haofei nodded, "I've said it countless times; I am indeed Tang Yi. Sigh, I just realized that having a high IQ isn't always a good thing."
It's true that Lin Haifeng had a high IQ, which meant he thought a lot. Thinking a lot led to doubts, and under normal circumstances, being skeptical wasn't a bad thing. Considering all aspects of a matter would help avoid mistakes. However, in this situation, his skepticism became a barrier to communication.
In other words, Lin Haifeng did not fully believe in Tang Haofei's claim of "I am Tang Yi..."
In fact, if it weren't for the current restrictions against mutual attacks in Star of Africa, Lin Haifeng would never have stayed in the same room with Tang Haofei.
The old man frowned and pondered for a long time before shaking his head.
"Let's not discuss that topic for now. Just assume you are Tang Yi."
"I am Tang Yi! Tang Haofei!"
Lin Haifeng waved his hand, "Alright, I already said let's not talk about that. Let's change the subject. You mentioned that after leaving Beijing, you encountered the earth's will. You only said that the earth's will has issues and that it wants to deal with Wen Yu... I want to know the specific details and reasons behind this."
Tang Haofei fell silent, then shook his head, "I can't tell you that. It involves some, um, information you shouldn't know."
Tang Haofei wasn't foolish. Originally, he had been wandering around Star of Africa to lure either Wen Yu or Lin Haifeng out to discuss the intelligence he had gleaned. But the primary focus was on Wen Yu—Tang Haofei and Wen Yu shared enough common ground to talk about anything. Lin Haifeng was a secondary concern—there were things Lin Haifeng shouldn't know, especially regarding Wen Yu being reborn by the demon lord.
To put it bluntly, Tang Haofei had come to understand the challenges Wen Yu faced and the deadly tribulation that awaited him. Although only the celestial gods knew about this matter, it was already bad enough. If Lin Haifeng got hold of this leverage over Wen Yu, the consequences would be unimaginable!
Recalling the hallucination received from the earth's will, Tang Haofei even suspected that perhaps it was precisely because of this that the earth's will forced Wen Yu to turn against them, leading him to angrily ally with the demonic clan and ultimately destroy the earth himself.
Given Wen Yu's character, the possibility was quite high...
Thus, to prevent a tragedy, Tang Haofei felt it was necessary to help Wen Yu conceal this matter. Although, in essence, he couldn't contribute much, old Tang could still keep his mouth shut.
Upon hearing Tang Haofei's response, Lin Haifeng's frown deepened. His intelligent mind immediately linked to certain problematic thoughts.
As the de facto supreme leader of the human race, overseeing everything in the Beijing gathering place, it seemed like... he might not have the qualification to touch upon these matters?
Although Tang Haofei didn't say such things outright, Lin Haifeng could already discern the implication from Tang Haofei's expression and tone—this is something you old man are not qualified to participate in...
Well, Lin Haifeng couldn't think of anything he was unqualified to engage with, after all, strength was strength, and influence was influence. Strictly speaking, the two weren't opposed and had no superiority or inferiority. They could even complement each other. Lin Haifeng always positioned himself on the same level as Wen Yu and Tang Haofei, and in reality, Wen Yu and Tang Haofei also placed Lin Haifeng on the same level.